Need some SACD help.

Artie

Artie

Super Member
A while back, I scored a bunch of cool audio stuff from a friend who's downsizing his collection to move to a condo. (I'll post about this "score" sometime later.) Amongst the items is a primo Sony ES DVP-NC555ES 5-disc carousel player that does DVD, CD and SACD. I've never thought much about SACD, but since this will play them, I thought I'd try one. So, my question is, how do I know if an SACD was mastered in the high-def mode? I'd hate to get an SACD and just have it be some up-sampled redbook thing. Is there some way for me to tell if an SACD is high-def, or does it just come naturally with the territory?

Thanks all.
Artie
 
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Artie said:
A while back, I scored a bunch of cool audio stuff from a friend who's downsizing his collection to move to a condo. (I'll post about this "score" sometime later.) Amongst the items is a primo Sony ES DVP-NC555ES 5-disc carousel player that does DVD, CD and SACD. I've never thought much about SACD, but since this will play them, I thought I'd try one. So, my question is, how do I know if an SACD was mastered in the high-def mode? I'd hate to get an SACD and just have it be some up-sampled redbook thing. Is there some way for me to tell if an SACD is high-def, or does it just come naturally with the territory?
Click to expand...

That will require research on your part given that there's no universal way of producing a SACD.
 
Artie said:
A while back, I scored a bunch of cool audio stuff from a friend who's downsizing his collection to move to a condo. (I'll post about this "score" sometime later.) Amongst the items is a primo Sony ES DVP-NC555ES 5-disc carousel player that does DVD, CD and SACD. I've never thought much about SACD, but since this will play them, I thought I'd try one. So, my question is, how do I know if an SACD was mastered in the high-def mode? I'd hate to get an SACD and just have it be some up-sampled redbook thing. Is there some way for me to tell if an SACD is high-def, or does it just come naturally with the territory?

Thanks all.
Artie
Click to expand...

Not familiar with that model Sony, but keep in mind not all are created equally. Was very disappointed in the playback from my Sony DVP NS500V, not that it was bad, but also nothing above ordinary, with no discernable difference when playing SACD's. The player was favorably compared with the much more expensive Rega Planet so I was expecting more.

Many yrs later I purchased another Sony deck, used for $80, now this unit gave me what I was looking for, and SACD's are superb, very analog like.

The unit is a Sony DVP NS900V, at the time the 500 was selling for $279 (what i paid new) the 900 was $1000. This led to the acquisition of a couple more upper tier Sony decks, the DVP NS999ES, and CX777ES, each for $80 or less. Both nice players but I prefer the non ES model with the 999ES taking second place.

All are better than the 500, I would think your deck being an ES model should also give a good accounting of itself.
 
Everything I've read about the 555 has been good, so far. It has a plethora of outputs on it. And I'll continue to do research. I thought this would be a good place to start. :)

Does anyone have a favorite SACD retailer?
 

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When it comes to releases....you really have to do your research. This means maybe spending a lot of hours reading other forums where guys obsess about that stuff. Sometimes they don't fully know, but they add some information to help you come to your own conclusion.

Most of the "modern" releases are from niche audiophile labels to begin with. From 99 to maybe 2005 the story was different.
 
The DVP-NC555ES is a very good SACD player. I have one myself. The disc changing mechanism is a little loud but the SQ is very good.
 
One person’s “genre” is a “niche” to someone else …

The availability of true hi-res (e.g., 24bit/192kHz PCM, or DSD) recordings varies by music genre. By “true hi-res” I mean recordings with hi-res provenance, i.e., originally recorded and mastered in hi-res - NOT Redbook CD (16bit/44.1kHz) converted to a FLAC file.

All new classical music recordings are recorded and mastered in hi-res, and almost all are available in a hi-res consumer deliverable (i.e., SACD, Pure Audio Blu-ray, Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray or hi-res (e.g., 24bit/192kHz) download). Moreover, modern classical recordings almost always offer surround-sound (in addition to a stereo track), and sometimes have hi-def video.

SACDs (and Blu-ray recordings) are commonly available from Amazon.

My understanding is that there was an effort in the industry to address the issue of provenance, but I’ve not seen these classifications on recordings:

Master Quality Recording: A coding system devised by electronics and music industry trade groups to describe the provenance of digital music files for consumers, retailers and recording industry professionals. The four Master Quality categories include:​

MQ-A: From an analog master source

MQ-C: From a CD master source (44.1-kHz/16-bit content)

MQ-D: From a DSD/DSF master source (typically 2.8- or 5.6-MHz/ 1-bit content). (DSF is a type of DSD master file.)

MQ-P: From a PCM master source 48-kHz/20 bit or higher (typically 96/24 or 192/24 content)​

In a few cases high quality analog master tapes have been digitized at hi-res with fairly good results - e.g., some RCA Living Stereo, but generally top-quality audio requires modern recordings.
 
Great info Robert. Thanks. I went ahead and snagged one SACD from Amazon just so I'd have one to try out. It's an older Steely Dan album, so maybe not "true" hi-res. But I'll do my reseach and see what I can come up with.
 
If we're talking about Aja.....I went through this last year with that album.

I have 4 different copies I compared:

An apparently early MCA edition mastered by Steve Hoffman
The MFSL CD
2010 SHM-CD
2010 SHM-SACD

The MFSL CD sounds off compared to the other three. The other 3 are honestly a total tossup. It's a fine SACD; it's a very subtle tonal difference between the CD versions; that could be from the production of the CD or my DAC itself.

From the liner notes of the 2010 SACD: DSD Transferred from analogue master tapes by Hitoshi Takiguchi (Universal Mastering Studios)
 
I almost clicked on "Aja." Went with "Countdown to Ecstasy" instead. They're both two of my favorite albums.
 
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